Automatic window-closing device



;R. G. CATOR. AUTOMATIC WINDOW CLOSING DEVICE. APPLICATION FJLED DEF, I0. 1920- 1,396,252.' Patented Nov.- 8, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

' oiwmfm. Ric/lard 6 ('a/bfl R. G. CATOR. AUTOMflTlC WINDOW CLOSING DEVICE. APPLICATION FILED 0c.1o. 1920.

Patentd Nov. 8, 1921.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

RICHARD G. CATOR, OF PALMYRA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF OIl'E-HALF TO I. J. IJAWLOB, OF PALMYRA, NEW YORK.

AUTOM ATIC WINDOW-CLOSING DEVICE.

I Palmyra, in the county of Wayne and State time to get up.

of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Vindow- Closing Devices, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide an automatically operated and time controlled mechanism which is adapted to release a previously opened window at a predetermined time and automatically close it.

This and other objects of this invention will be fully illustrated in the drawing, de-a scribed in the specification and pointed out in the claims at the endthereof.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a window with the automatically time controlled window closing mechanism attached thereto.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the window and mechanism shown in Fig. 1. v

\Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the alarm clock and window release operated thereb the window and window casing being part y broken away.

. Fi 4 is a detail perspective view of one of t e releasing dogs for releasing 'the windows.

In the several figures of the drawings, like reference numerals indicate like parts.

Bedrooms are ventilated during the night ordinarily by leaving the windows open. In the winter when the outdoor air is cold, the rooms get cold on this account and are, therefore, cold in the morning when it is The present invention hereinafter described, .is intended to hold the windows open during the night but automatically release and close them in the morning at apredetermined time, an hour or two before getting up time; This, gives the room a chance to warm up.

In the drawings, reference numeral 1 in dicates a lever which is mounted to swing in the window casing 2. The lever 1 is bent back at the inner end to form the shaft 1- around which the lever 1 swings. This rearwardly extending shaft 1 which forms part of the lever 1, is mounted in suitable holes in the window casing and has a pair of outwardly projecting dogs 4 and 5 formed thereon. The dogs fl: and 5 are adapted to Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 8, 1921.

Application fi1ed December 10, 1920. Serial No. 429,767.

swing in and out of the openings 6 and 7 provided for this purpose in the window casing 2. .When in an inoperative position, the lever 1 normally hangs straight down on the outside of the window casing or in a perpendicular position. A weight 8 which is fastened to the lever 1 near the outer end thereof, is provided to hold the lever in this position. The dogs 4 and 5 carried by the pivot of the lever are held back in their respective openings 6 and 7 in the window casing when the lever 1 is in this normal or vertical position. This is shown at the right in Fig. 1.

The dog 4: is hooked shaped and as it swings in and out of the opening 6 in the window casing, it extends into or withdraws from the path of the pins 9 which are ing latch 13. The outwardly projecting end of this latch is bifurcated to form a long and a short prong 14 and 15 thereon. The short prong 14 is provided at the bottom and the longer prong 15 is formed at the top of the lockin latch. The lever 1 is adapted to swing up against the locking latch 13 so that it can be forced over the short prong 14 into the bifurcation in the locking latch where it is held in place in a horizontal position. When in this position the locking dogs 4 and 5" are held to project into the path of the pins 9 and 11 of the upper and lower half of the window.

In order to lock the upper or lower or both sashes in an open position the window sashes are moved to the desired position and are held there until the lever 1 is moved from its vertical position to the horizontal position as above pointed out. The sashes are then released and the counter weight 16 which is connected to the upper sash draws the sash up to the pointwhere one of the pins 11 in the sash 12 encounters the dog 5 which is held by the lever 1 to project into the path of the pins 11. This arrests the movement of the sash and prevents the closing thereof. In this way the sashes are held 0 en.

The counter weight 16, of which one is mounted in each side of the window casing 2 and connected with a cord to the upper corners of the upper sash, is made to overbalance the weight of the upper sash so that when the upper sash is released the counter weight 16 operates to raise the upper sash and close it.

The same is true of the lower sash except that in this case the sash is made heavier than the counter weights 17 which are connected to it by the cords 18. Thus, when the lower sash is released after bein opened, the weight of the sash will overbalance the counter weights 17 so that the lower sash will drop and close itself on the release thereof.

In order-to release the windows automatically and at a predetermined time an alarm clock 18 is used. This clock is mounted on a bracket 19, fastened to one side of the window casing, with the dial facing the inside of the room and the winding mecha nism facing the wall. The alarm clock is provided with the winding lever 20 for winding up the clock work and the winding lever 21 for winding up the alarm mechanism. Besides these levers for winding up the clock work and the alarm, the clock is provided with the usual knurled handles 22 and 23 for moving the hands of the clock and alarm, respectively. As above described, the upper and lower sashes are opened manually but are held in their opened position by the dogs controlled by the lever 1. The lever 1 in turn is held in the horizontal position, in which the dogs operate to hold the window open by the locking latch 13. The end of the lever 1 is slightly .curved rearwardly. and extends to the rear of the alarm clock 18 and into the path of the alarm lever 21. When the alarm goes off, the lever 21 rotates as the mechanism of the alarm unwinds and during the first one of the revolutions of the lever 21, the curved end of the lever 1. is slightly forced outwardly by the lever 21 so that the lever 1 is forced out of engagement with the bifurcated end of the locking latch 13. The welght 8 then drops and operates to move the released lever 1 from the horizontal position into a vertical position and in so doing moves the dogs 4 and 5 awa'y pins 9 and 11 on the sashes. The sashes are then free to close and do so by reason of the over and under balanced weights that are attached'to the sash as above pointed out.

The alarm clock may thus be set to go oflt' the windows which are held ,open during the mght will be closed at that t1me su-that from the thereof. in the morning at a predetermined time and I the room can be warmed up before it is time to rise.

The alarm clock used for this purpose need not be provided with a bell alarm so that the sleeper will not be awakened at the time the alarm goes ofi to close the window. In order to muflle' the sound of the closing windows, each sash is rovided with a shock absorber 24 and 25. hese shock absorbers comprise spring pressed pins which are fastened into the to and bottom railing of the upper and lhwer' sash, respectively. When the windows close, these pins cushion the contact of the sash with the window casing and in so doing preventa loud impact between the windows and the window casing.

As shown in Fig. 1, each window may be provided with a pair of the levers 1 and ts associated parts. One of each of these levers is mounted at each side of the window casing. In this way, the. alarm clock for operating the releasing mechanism may be mounted on either side of the window. This makes it possible to install the window release on windows on which either one side or the other of the window casing is obstructed so that the alarm clock cannot be dow mounted to slide in said window cas-.

ing, a lever mounted to swin at one side of said window casing, a weig t carried by said lever near one end thereof, a dog formed on said lever at the other end thereof, a latch adapted to normally hold said weighted end of said lever in a horizontal position and a time controlled means to force said weighted end of said lever out of engagement with said latch and allow said lever to swing from a horizontal to a vertical position, means carried by said window and adapted to be engaged by said dog when held in one position and be released by said dog when moved into the other direction.

2. In an automatic window closing device, the combination of a window casin an upper and a lower sash mounted to sli e up and down in said window casing, said upper sash and said lower sash bein counter balanced to allow said sashes to c ose themselves automatically on the release thereof,

a lever mounted to swing in said window to make said dogs engage said window sashes and hold them open, t1me controlled means to release said lever and with it said window sashes to permit the automatic closing 3. In an automatic window closing device, the combination of a window casing, an upper and a lower wlndow sash mounted to slide up and down in said window casing, saidupper and said lower sash being counter balanced to allow said sashes to automatically close themselves on the release 5 thereof, pins carried on the outside of said sashes, a lever mounted to swing on said window casing, a dog 0 erated by said lever, said dog'being adapts to enga said pins on said sashes to hold said sas es open, a

latch on said window casing adapted to engage and he POBlt-lOIl to hold said dogs in engagement with said pins insaid window sashes,

said latch being 10 said lever in :1.

to disengage said lever from said lttch to release said dogs from said pins and allow 15 said windows to close.

In testimdny whereof I aflix my si ature.

RICHARD G. CA R. 

